EARLY COGNITIVE FOUNDATINS:

SENSATION, PERCEPTION, AND

LEARNING
Chapter 6
Developmental Psychology
 Cognitive Development through
Sensation and Perception

• Sensation—Detection of stimuli by the

sensory receptors and transmission of this
information to the brain.

• Perception—The process by which we

categorize and interpret sensory input.
 Theoretical Views of Objective
Reality
• Enrichment Theory: Individuals possess
cognitive resources (schemes) which make them
capable of engaging the environment.

– Initial sensory stimulation is ambiguous and unclear.

– Continued re-exposure creates scheme reformation

as individuals engage their environments and
develop more complex schemes.
 Differentiation Theory
• Sensory stimulation provides all we need to
interpret our experiences.

– Our task as perceivers is to detect the

differentiating information (distinctive features)
that enable us to discriminate one form of
experience from another.

• View developed by Eleanor Gibson

 Unlocking the Infant Box
• Conclusive findings present a challenge
when it comes to the precursors to infant
cognitive development

– Sensation and perception

• Methodological Tools Are Essential To

Securing Reliability and Validity Concerns
 Techniques For Understanding
Children
• The Preference Method: Procedure in which
two stimuli are presented simultaneously to
determine which stimuli the infant focuses on.
Developed by Robert Fantz

• The Habituation Method: Presentation of one

stimuli until the infant habituates; upon
habituation, a second stimuli is presented to
determine if the infant dishabituates.
– Methods generally used to determine infant’s sensory and perceptual capabilities.
 Techniques continued
• Evoked Potentials: Children are presented
with a particular stimuli and their brain waves
are recorded.
– Generally used to determine what areas of the brain
are stimulated upon stimuli presentation.

• High-Amplitude Sucking: Special pacifiers

containing electrical circuitry measure variation
in sucking patterns upon stimuli presentation.
High bursts of sucking may be a signal for stimuli presentation (desirable
film), little sucking caused the stimuli to go away. (Operant conditioning)
 Development of Pattern Perception
• Stimulus Seekers (birth to 3 months)
– Scan the environment
– Visually explore detectable stimuli

• Form Constructors (3 to 6 months)

– Scanning becomes more systematic
– Perceive a variety of forms
– Can detect “subjective contours”
– Can infer “wholeness” of a partially hidden object from its synchronized
movement

• Form Interpreters (9 to 12 months/older)

– Can discriminate a variety of emotional expressions
– Can infer meaningful structure (e.g., human form) from minimal
information
– Engage in social referencing
 Infant Sensory Capabilities
• Although vision is our least developed sense,
infants display varying capabilities to distinguish
between faces and some colors.
– Significant gains towards later years.

• Initially, vision is very blurry (20/600).

– Poor ability to discriminate basic colors until 2 months

– By one year, they see as well as adults.

 Hearing
• Infants develop a sensitivity to voice tones (prefer
higher pitches, soft sounds are undetectable).
– Studies have revealed that infants are capable of recognizing
their mother’s voice. High amplitude sucking method.

• Infants also have a sensitivity to sounds/ language

development.
– According to Eimas (1975, 1985), 2 to 3 month old infants
could distinguish consonant sounds that are similar (for
example, ba and pa).

– By 3 to 6 months, infants are actually better than adults at

perceiving certain sounds that are not language oriented.
Infants also become capable (4.5 months) at responding when
they hear their name being called.
 Touch, Temperature, and Pain
• Infants definitely have a sensitivity to touch.

– Premature babies develop better when stroked or massaged.

– Thru touch, infants engage the environment.

• Taste/Smell: Infants generally prefer sweet over

sour, bitter, or salty.

– Sweet substances have been found to reduce crying and

produce smiles and smacking of the lips.

– Infants 1 to 2 weeks old have been found to recognize the mom

through smell.
 Visual Perception in Infancy
• (0-2months) Sight is very limited.
– Ability to see is limited to things that have
high contrast and/or distinctive characteristics
(curvilinear shapes).

• (2-12months) Infants are better at discriminating

objects from the environment.
 Vision, Perception, and Attraction
• Infant preferences for attractive faces can be
detected as early as 3 months in infants.

• Findings are weaker when infants have

caregivers who are unattractive.

• Infants demonstrate a greater disposition

towards interaction and play when exposed to
attractive faces as oppose to unattractive faces.

– What is attraction and how does it develop

among infants?

– Could attraction be a factor for stranger anxiety

when in the absence of parents?

– How important is attraction to shaping human

interaction and child outcomes?
 Exploring Intermodal Development
• Infants use one sense (e.g., hearing,
touch) to recognize an object that
is familiar through another sense
(e.g., vision).

• Infants are able to recognize

instances when our senses
provide contradictory
information.

• Physical, Cognitive, & Socio-

Emotions Outcomes
 Four Consequences of Operant
Conditioning
• Reinforcer. Any consequence of an act that increases the
probability that the act will recur.
– Positive Reinforcer. Any stimulus whose presentation, as a consequence
of an act, increases the probability that the act will recur.

– Negative Reinforcer. Any stimulus whose removal or termination, as the

consequence of an act, increases the probability that the act will recur.

• Punisher. Any consequence of an act that suppresses the

response and decreases the probability that it will recur.
– A punishing consequence that involves the presentation of something
unpleasant following a behavior.

– A punishing consequence that involves the removal of something pleasant

following a behavior.
 Examples of Conditioning Outcomes: Reinforcers
Strengthen/ Punishment Suppresses
• Positive Reinforcer
– Attention may strengthen being pleasant and polite
– Hugs may strengthen cooperation and seeking contact

• Negative Reinforcer
– Avoidance of a scolding may strengthen the child’s coming home on time
– Avoidance of their child’s tantrum in the store by buying a treat strengthens parent
treat-buying behavior

• Positive Punishment
– A scolding ay suppress fighting with brother
– A costly speeding ticket may suppress speeding

• Negative Punishment
– Loss of allowance may suppress “forgetting” to do chores
– Removal to bedroom may suppress returning home late
Making Punishment/Corrective Behavior Effective

• Confront the undesirable behavior as soon as possible

• Be consistent

• Be otherwise warm and accepting

• Consider alternatives to physical punishment

• Reinforce alternative behavior

• Provide explanations for why the behavior was wrong

and suggest what the child might do differently in the
future
 Possible Side Effects of Aversive Controls
• Child may avoid the punisher

• Anxiety generated may prevent the child’s learning the intended

lesson

• Child’s resentment may make the child uncooperative and

difficult to control

• Child may imitate adult’s aggressive means of dealing with a

situation

• Punisher may be reinforced by the temporary effectiveness of

punitive measures and become a habitual punisher

• Misbehavior may escalate if the only attention a child gets is that

accompanying punishment